Shingle



'16, 1948. J. E. BLACK 2,437,874

SHINGLE Filed June 7, 1945 Patented Mar., 16, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE SHINGLE.

James E. Black, Chicago, Ill.-, assignor to 'James E.''Black, ElamL;Black, Whitfiel 'J: Black, and

Virginia Black,;a:partnership.dongabusiness. -as Biack,systems,:ohicagc, Ill.

. Application June, 7, 1945, SerialNo 598, 131

2 Claims. l

This inventionrelates to shingles used for roofing andthe like; and moreparticularly to those made of -flexible' roofing material andadapted tointerlock with one another.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improvedshingles ofthe interlocking type which have interlocking parts so disposedandrelate& to the main' surface covering portions of the shingles thatthe said'surface covering portions conform closely to the surface towhich they are attache'dand the adjacent shingles whether made of'normal or heavier weight material thereby avoiding POckets under theshingles accessible to Windand rain. v

The inventionhas for another object the pro-p vision .of shingles ofirregular contour and includingtabs at their outer edges adapted tointerlock with adjacent shingles, and 'in so doing to flex from theplane of the rest of the shingle, said tabs being so disposed ontheshingles that they form a v, regular and pleasing, pattern, in groupsand relative to the exposed edges of the shingles.

VAs. another object this? invention comprehends the provision ofinterlocking parts onthe edges of shngles, so disposed and of such asize relative to the. shingles that` their flexure in looking with othershngles does not causeany undesirable exposure of other, surfaces or uestablish detrimental catches for. wind or rain.

A further object of the presentinvention. isto provide an improvedshingle of the interlockin'g type in which irregular contours provideinterlooking parts adapted to eflective use and service in shingles madeof heavy, as well as lighter weightsof roofing material.

Other objects and advantagesof the invention Will be appare'nt ,fromgthe ;following description and the accompanying drawings in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate .similar parts throughout theseveral views.

'Referring to the single sheet 'of drawingsz ,Figure 1 isa fragmentaryplan view illustrating the structure of shingles embodying my inventionin a preferred form as Well as showing the preferred manner ofapplication of the shingles to a surface;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view to an enlarged scale whichillustrates the details of the interlocking portions of shinglesassembled as shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side sectional View showing interlocked portionsof assemblecl shingles and in which the section is taken substantiallyon a line 3-3 of F'ig. 2 and viewed in the direction indicated by thearrows.

Sh'ngles of the type disclosed are particularly adapted to be cut fromsheets of-fiexible roofing material; They are also adapted to interlockwith one another when assembled in the preferred manner as disclosed inFig. 1 to'cover a surface such 'as a roof.

One consideration in the design of such shingles is that'they'shallprovide a pleasing appearance when assembled. Factors eontributing tothe pleasing appearance-nclude the symmetry and combination of brokenlines-and the Creation of edge shadow effects unaccompanied by irregularor unsymmetrical folds orwarped surface&

' Considered structurally, shingles of the type disclosed shouldinterlock firmly to hold' the covering portions of the shingles in placeandwithoutwarping the body portionof any shingle 'so as to effect theCreation of an air pocket or a space accessible to' driven rain. In`some types of shingles it has been the practice to offer the user thechoice of either a normal weight shingle material' or a materialconsiclerably thicker and heavier thanthe normal- Weight; The addedthickness of the heavier weight material increases the difliculty 01'makes itpractcally impossible to lay some types of shingles withouthaving bulges or undesirable warping -ofthe shingle surfaces. As will bemore fully-explained with reference to the-details of structure of thedisclosed shingle, it not only provides -a well designed and pleasingpattern, -but it also 'is adapted to .be easily and effectiveiy lai dwhen made of either the normal or heavier Weight material.

V Referring tothe drawings, shingles are illustrative of a preferredembodiment of my invention and are :substantially T-shaped, havingheadportions il and integralshank portions 52. As the shingles areplaced uponassurface which isto be covered the head portions li aredesirably placed at-the top with their: substantially strai-ght topedges-aligned and extendinglaterally of the surface so :that :thesubstantially parallel sidecishank portions-12 extend. downwardly., Asanaid to proper lateralalignment. of the shingles relative to -oneanother; theylhave atopposite ends of the head portion aligning tabs !3,the outer edges of which are straight and placed in aligned abutment asshown in Fig. 1.

Although there are certain contour irregularities in the edges of thedisclosed shingles which result from the desirability of the provisionof a shingle shape which permits the cutting of the shinges from a stripof the desired material without appreciable waste, looking tabs M andshank tabs !5 have definite functions in the placement and securepositioning of the shingles. The locking tabs !4 are desirablysubstantially rectangular and extend downwardly from the head portion!lalong and adjacent opposite sides of the shank portion !2. They arealso disjoined from the shank portion !2 by slots !6 so as to beflexible relative to the shank and head portions of the shingle alonglines transverse to the longitudinal axis of the shingle. The shank tabsare of substantially the same size as the looking tabs !4 and projectlaterally in opposite directions from the bottom portions of the sideedges of the shank portion !2. It is preferred that the lower edge ofeach of the shank tabs is aligned with the lower straight edge of theshank portion.

Each shingle including the head portion shank portion !2, aligning tabs!3, looking tabs !4 and shank tabs !5, is symmetrical with regard to alongitudinal center line thereof. In addition to being symmetrioal withrespect to a longitudinal center line, the respective parts of eachshingle are so disposed and of such relative sizes that when twoshingles are placed side by side in a common plane with the edges of thealigning tabs !3 abutting, the shank portion !2 of a third shingle fitsbetween the looking tabs !4 of the first-mentioned two adjacentshingles. In such relative positions the shank tabs of the third shingleare slipped under and underlie the locking tabs !4 of the first twoshingles while the shank portion !2 and head portion of the thirdshingle overlie and extend upwardly beyond the upper edges of the firsttwo shingles. The nailing of the shingles to the covered surface isconfined to the aligning tabs !3 or the ends of the head portions whichare overlapped by the shank portion of a succeed'ng shingle.

As illustrated in the various Views of the drawings, the looking tabs !4flex outwardly with respect to the head portions when the shank tabs !5are slipped thereunder. This flexure of the looking tabs is independentof the shank portions of the shingles and along a line transverse to thelongitudinal axes of the shingles. In each instance and as particularlywell disclosed in Figs. 2 and 3, the shank portion !2 of each shingle isfiexed downwardly over the lower edges of the head portions ofunderlying shingles adjacent the looking tabs !4. This flexure of theadjacent parts of interlocked shingles is substantially opposite butsince the flexure of each of the parts is substantially linear andtransverse thereto at a position in which those parts are freelyflexible, the interlockng positions are assumed without undesirablewarping of the shingle body surfaces. That is, the looking tabs !4 flexupwardly along lines at which they are free to flex when the shank tabsare slipped thereunder. Likewise, the shank portions !2, while mainlyconforming to the plane surface of the underlying shingles, flexdownwardly over the' lower edges of the underlying shingles and alonglines lateral to the shank portions as well as in substantial alignmentwith the fiexed portions of the looking tabs.

The shank tabs !5 being of substantially the same size as the lookingtabs !4, their edges are adjaoent in the ully interlocked position andthere is no possibility of the shank tabs extending beyond the lookingtabs to an extent such that they would underlie and warp an adjacentshank portion of another shingle.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the body portions of the shingles lie closelytogether when applied to a surfac and conform to the surface to whichthey are applied. In addition to providing an effective covering for asurface which is well adapted to withstanding wind and weather, theinterlocked shingles present a pleasing appearance and pattern asillustrated in the lower right-hand portion of Fig. 1. The exposedshingle edges present an irregular and recurring pattern of broken linesand the separately fiexible looking tabs add to that pattern of lines anadditional and symmetrical pattern which is somewhat superimposed uponthe pattern of lines and is particularly attractive when viewed in threedimensions.

Having thus illustrated and described my invention, what I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A shingle of flexible weather resistant material comprising a headportion having parallel lateral edges, three downward projections fromthe head portion which are severally integral with the head portion butotherwise separate and distinct from each other, two of said threeprojeotions being symmetrical looking tabs substantially spaced fromeach other and equidistantly spaced inwardly from the lateral edges ofthe head, the other of said three projectionsbeing a shank portionsubstantially wider than and lying between and adjacent to said lookingtabs and extending substantially downwardly beyond them, and a pair oflooking tab engaging tabs projecting laterally in opposite directionsfrom the lower end of the shank portion, each of said locking tabs beingadapted to flex relative to the head portion on a transverse line offlexure without causing wind pooket forming fiexure of the proximatelateral edge of the shank portion.

2. A shingle as specified in claim 1 wherein the opposed edges of theshank portion and looking tabs are definitely spaced apart and areparallel with each other and with the lateral edges of the head portion.

JANIES E. BLACK.

REFERENCES CITED I`he following references are of record in the file ofthis patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Abraham Aug. 4, 1936

